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Imanaga works his magic on mound as Cubs shut out Red Sox

Shota Imanaga unveiled a special kind of pitching magic Saturday.

On a night that was clearly conducive to hitting home runs — the Cubs hit 5 of them — Imanaga lived in the air. His flyball to groundball ratio was 11-5, yet none of those flyballs came anywhere close to leaving Wrigley Field.

It was a true high-wire act. And while there was no net involved, the basket in front of the bleachers was certainly looming to catch home runs. Imanaga's 7 scoreless innings boosted the Cubs to 20 games over .500 with a 6-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

The Cubs (59-39) actually moved past slumping Detroit for the best record in the majors and improved to 32-10 in games Imanaga has started since he arrived from Japan a year ago. His current ERA is 2.40, compared to 2.91 last season.

“That's ace-level record right there,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “It's as good as it gets. So he's pitching at a really high level, and he feels like he's gotten into this groove, kind of midseason form now.”

Catcher Reese McGuire had a good view of how Imanaga pulled this off, and it was the first time he'd caught the left-hander since spring training. McGuire felt the key is essentially getting batters worried about the split-finger, which sinks, then when he comes back with a high fastball, they tend to get under it, which causes the high number of harmless pop-ups.

“That fastball's just so unique,” McGuire said. “I was talking to Carson (Kelly) because he's pretty much had him every game. We were talking about the fastball up in the zone and he's like, “Hey, sometimes he's going to throw some that don't quite get to the top, and guys are still going to swing and miss.

“'And you're going to look up, and (the videoboard) is going to say 91 (mph), and you'll be like, 'How the heck did he swing and miss at that?' But then you're going see it's like 17, 18, 19 vert with some ride. So he can get above the barrel.”

Imanaga wore an appropriate T-shirt to his postgame news conference, featuring a vintage Cubs logo with the phrase, “Cubs Win” in giant letters. According to StatCast, Red Sox hitters swung and missed 10 times on the splitter.

“I think talking to three pitching coaches, we have discussions and just every time with the bullpen, it kind of felt like show and tell,” Imanga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “You work on something, then the game comes and it's time to showcase what you have. Today was really fun, it felt like my splitter was working.”

The Cubs finished with 5 solo homers. Michael Busch and Kyle Tucker went back-to-back to lead off the bottom of the first inning, then Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ added another set of consecutive homers in the eighth. In between, Matt Shaw sent a pinch-hit home run into left field, his first at Wrigley Field.

According to the Cubs, Crow-Armstrong tied Kris Bryant for the most home runs in franchise history by a player 23 or younger.

After a long dry spell heading into the all-star break, Shaw now has 3 hits in the past two days. He's been adjusting his hitting mechanics and appreciated the time off.

“That was awesome. Being able to reset is huge,” Shaw said. “I feel like the break was really a nice time to relax, take a deep breath, and then kind of reset a little bit and kind of relook at myself and my motivations and all those things for this year. It was really nice. I feel really ready being back.”

Busch, meanwhile, has hit first-inning home runs in two of the three games he's been in the leadoff spot in the order. The first one was in New York just before the break.

“It's something I've done a little bit in college and the minor leagues,” Busch said. “You just have to get ready a little quicker.”

Pitching plans:

The Cubs plan to start Cade Horton on Sunday against former White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet. Manager Craig Counsell said Matthew Boyd will pitch Tuesday against Kansas City, with Monday's starter to be announced. The plan was to give Boyd, who threw just 52 innings last year after coming back from an injury, some extra rest surrounding the all-star break.

Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) greets fans after a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Saturday, July 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Matt Marton) AP
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